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A chance to unlock Lockerbie? Cameron sending UK police to visit Libya

During an unannounced visit to Tripoli today, the British prime minister said he was 'delighted' that British investigators would be able to visit Libya to 'look into the issues' around the 1988 bombing.

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Reuters
Libya's Prime Minister Ali Zeidan speaks with Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (l.) during a meeting at the headquarters of the prime minister's office in Tripoli today. Mr. Cameron arrived in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Thursday in an unannounced visit to the north African country, his office in London said.
  • By Cassandra Vinograd Associated Press

| London

UK police officers will travel to Libya to investigate the Lockerbie bombing, British Prime Minister David Cameron said Thursday.

The news came as Mr. Cameron made an unannounced visit to the North African country's capital, Tripoli, and held bilateral talks to explore what support and expertise Britain can offer to Libya to strengthen its security and defeat terrorism.

Cameron told a press conference in Tripoli that he was "delighted" that police would be able to visit Libya and "look into the issues" around the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town. The attack killed 270 people, many of them American.

The death last spring of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi — a former Libyan intelligence agent and the only man convicted over the bombing — renewed pleas from victims' relatives for further investigation of the bombing. After the fall of dictator Muammar Qaddafi, Britain asked Libya's new rulers to help fully investigate.

Cameron also said Britain was prepared to provide training and advice to Libya amid growing concerns over security in the region, pledging to help Libya's police and army.

His visit to the Libyan capital — shortly after a stop in Algeria, where he struck a security partnership — came just days after the UK Foreign Office warned of a potential threat against the British embassy in Tripoli.

Just before that, Britain joined other governments in urging its citizens in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, to evacuate in response to what was described as an imminent threat to Westerners.

The Foreign Office on Thursday would not comment on the status of those threats but said it was "taking appropriate measures."

Locals greeted Cameron as he toured Tripoli's famous Martyrs' Square amid tight security.

Cameron also visited a police training center on the outskirts of Tripoli, telling police recruits it was "very good to be back." He last visited Libya in September 2011, just after the fall of Qaddafi.

"I will never forget the scenes I saw in Tripoli and Benghazi," Cameron said, according to Britain's Press Association. "The British people want to stand with you and help you deliver the greater security that Libya needs. So we have offered training and support from our police and our military."

The prime minister is later expected to travel to Liberia for a development conference.

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